Longtime Blue Jays pitcher and all-star Jim Clancy dead at 69
Jim Clancy, who made his Major League debut during the Toronto Blue Jays' 1977 expansion season and spent 12 seasons with the club as a key member of its starting rotation, has died at 69.
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The Blue Jays confirmed Clancy's death in a social media post Monday. A cause of death was not given.
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Clancy was selected by the Blue Jays sixth overall in the 1976 MLB expansion draft and made his big-league debut on July 26, 1977, against the Texas Rangers at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. He surrendered five earned runs over two innings in a 14-0 loss.
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After going 4-9 in Toronto's expansion year, Clancy played his first full season in 1978, posting a respectable 10-12 record on a team that finished last in the American League East at 59-102.
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Clancy, along with star pitcher Dave Stieb, provided the bedrock for the Blue Jays' starting rotation as the team became increasingly competitive. He was Toronto's opening-day starter in 1981 and 1984.
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We are saddened to learn of the passing of Blue Jays great, Jim Clancy.
Clancy spent 12 of his 15 Major League seasons with Toronto - including an All-Star appearance in 1982 - and ranks second in franchise history in starts, innings pitched, and complete games.
His impact on… pic.twitter.com/9nASV1IIbb
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 14, 2025
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He had a 16-14 record with a 3.71 earned-run average and 139 strikeouts in his 1982 all-star season as the Blue Jays finished out of last place in the AL East for the first time with a 78-84 record.
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He went 9-6 with a 3.78 ERA in 1985 as the Jays won the division for the first time before falling in seven games to the Kansas City Royals in the AL Championship Series.
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Clancy signed with the Houston Astros after a disappointing 1988 season in Toronto, where he had an 11-13 record and 4.49 ERA as the Blue Jays failed to return to the playoffs for a third straight season.
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He played his final campaign coming out of the bullpen with the 1991 Atlanta Braves. He earned his first-ever post-season victory in the third game of the World Series as Atlanta defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-4 in twelve innings.
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Clancy finished the series with a 1-0 record with a 4.15 ERA, but the Twins won the series in seven games.
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